Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony may have called it quits years ago, but the two have remained close friends who coparent their children, twins Max and Emme, so well together. Before becoming engaged and married in the aughts, the former couple actually met in New York City years ago and their chance encounter is one for the books — literally.
In her 2014 memoir, True Love, J. Lo said that not only did the pair meet backstage of the Broadway show, The Capeman, in 1998 but his opening line proved to be a prophetic one.
According to Jennifer, Marc’s first words he said to her were: “One day you’re going to be my wife.”
However, the pair only dated briefly in the late ’90s and would only romantically reconnect years later after Jennifer dated Diddy in 1999, divorced second husband Cris Judd in 2003 and ended her engagement to Ben Affleck in early 2004.
The pair dated for less than six months before walking down the aisle in June 2004 and welcomed Max and Emme in February 2008.
One of Hollywood’s “It” couples for many years, the pair eventually announced their separation in July 2011, before divorcing in April 2012 and finalizing their divorce in June 2014.
Despite their split, the two have become the model for coparenting. In 2019, Marc shared a photo of himself, Jennifer and daughter Emme holding hands, but it was the caption that made it clear how well the two former flames get along as friends and work together as a team for their children. “Nothing but love between us,” he wrote. For Father’s Day that year,
And since her romance with on-again boyfriend Ben rekindled in April 2021, Marc has been very supportive of the. A source told In Touch at the time that Marc was “cool” with their relationship, before adding, “Marc trusts Jen’s decision to introduce Ben to their kids.” Meanwhile, Marc has since gone public with his new girlfriend, Madu Nicola, at the 2021 Billboard Latin Music Awards.
Scroll through the photos below to relive Jennifer and Marc’s romance and see how they’ve turned into exes who coparent amicably.